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You are here: Home / Fall 2021 / Fall 2021: Course/Section / Fall 2021: 362-01 / PSYC 362-01_Fall21_Group1

The Association Between the Big Five Personality Traits and Anxiety

Tatiana Blair, Melody Bordenkircher, & Raquel Cartagena

a Research Methods Project supervised by Dr. Laura Wilson
(Fall 2021)

Blair-poster

check out these “elevator” talks from each group member
  • Raquel Cartagena
  • Melody Bordenkircher
  • Tatiana Blair
    Alex Mills
    1 Dec 2021
    10:42am

    I really enjoyed learning about your research. This was a connection I have never thought of. The original hypothesis does make sense, despite your findings being the opposite of it. However, I understand now that neuroticism is significantly negatively correlated with anxiety. It is interesting that when one’s score on neuroticism increases, their level of anxiety decreases.

    Nice work!

    Reply
    Madison Groves
    2 Dec 2021
    4:20pm

    Your research was very interesting and informative. As you stated in your hypothesis, I thought that neuroticism would be positively correlated with level of anxiety. You mentioned that the survey you used was outdated and contained possibly unfamiliar language. Do you think if you used a more recent survey or research method that you would have had different results?

    Good job!

    Reply
    Zoey Lutterbie
    2 Dec 2021
    10:18pm

    I enjoyed reading through and listening to you all talk about your project. I do think the results were very interesting as are the possible reasons for the outcome being different than the hypotheses. The issue of self reporting I think could be very valid, between wanting to answer in a favorable way or just not being sure of how to answer for yourself/overthinking it.

    Good job!

    Reply
    Kree Pace
    3 Dec 2021
    11:24am

    Thank you all for your presentation! I am also surprised by your results. In my opinion it would make sense that those with high levels of conscientiousness would also be more at risk for anxiety. I do like that you all considered that self reporting might have been an issue due to people answering what they thought was socially acceptable instead of what actually applied to them. Using older studies for your research is not always a bad thing, but like you said that could have still been a factor in the results not lining up with the original hypothesis. Regardless, well done on your experiment.

    Reply
    Mary McConnell
    3 Dec 2021
    3:32pm

    Nice project! Your findings were unexpected in the part of neuroticism being negatively correlated with anxiety. Typically people with anxiety disorders, for example, rank high on the neuroticism scale. You make a great point that self-reporting could be an issue with your study, as people often will answer in what they believe to be a socially desirable way. Overall, good job!

    Reply
    Kassie Powell
    3 Dec 2021
    7:48pm

    I found your topic on the Big Five traits and how they relate to anxiety to be an interesting one. I felt that your hypotheses were well thought out and similar to ones I would make myself. I was surprised that you found a negative correlation between anxiety and neuroticism. While this could have been a result of the nature of the sample surveyed, it is an interesting find. I really enjoyed your presentations, and the poster looks great!

    Reply
    Stahlman
    4 Dec 2021
    8:28am

    What do you think it means for any “personality trait” to be correlated with any subjective experience of affect? The implication of this sort of work is that they are distinct psychological entities—different “kinds of things”—that have a relationship. But couldn’t it be true that the category boundaries we draw around these “traits” and emotional responses are only apparent ones? Is it possible that, in some sense, one might be measuring the same thing twice? In which case, of course it will correlate with itself.

    What do you think?

    Reply
    Celeste Lockwood
    5 Dec 2021
    12:38am

    The research you did was very interesting to see and was put together very well. Some of the results were surprising though, particularly the negative correlation between neuroticism and anxiety and the positive association between openness and anxiety. This type of information seems like it could be very useful to look into further and potentially help recognize some of the factors that may contribute to anxiety.

    Reply
    Maddy Gedney
    5 Dec 2021
    11:35am

    Fantastic job on your poster! I had never really thought about the connection between the Big Five Personality traits and anxiety, but it is a super interesting topic! I too thought neuroticism would especially be positively correlated to anxiety. Your point that since it was self-reported, people were influenced to answer in a socially desirable way. Well done!

    Reply
    Dr. Leppanen
    5 Dec 2021
    11:52am

    Good project, here! I am going to have to agree with everyone else’s comments about the interested negative correlation between anxiety and neuroticism. Everything about HIGH neuroticism is related to anxiety symptoms. What if the current generation of psychology students is simply anxious all the time, while being extremely consistent in that anxiety? Some aspects of neuroticism are related to inconsistency in mood and behavior. Could being consistently anxious actually be a low neurotic trait?

    Reply
    Jada Gundy
    5 Dec 2021
    12:10pm

    I found this research to be very interesting! I definitely would expect there to be a correlation between the big five traits and anxiety, so to see the final results was very interesting. I think some of the limitations listed were interesting like the issue of self reporting and the population size. Would you guys possible consider doing this study again but perhaps changing the way you measured things or changing the population itself?
    Overall really great research, I really enjoyed reading and listening to it!

    Reply
    Sara Roberts
    5 Dec 2021
    7:56pm

    This was a cool idea for research! I think it is fascinating that there is an association between agreeableness and anxiety. I think this is accurate because people with more anxiety tend to agree to avoid conflict. Great job!

    Reply
    Alex Wohlford
    5 Dec 2021
    9:38pm

    This was a really cool topic–I found your research super interesting! Like everyone else, I thought your initial hypothesis about neuroticism and anxiety would have turned out to be correct. I also thought the association between agreeableness and anxiety was fascinating, and it actually really makes sense to me. Great job on your poster!

    Reply
    Eyerusalm Getachew
    5 Dec 2021
    10:20pm

    Great job on your presentation! it was very informative I personally have never thought about it from that perspective. I really enjoyed reading through and watching all the videos and was fascinated by your findings.

    Reply
    Eliana Black
    7 Dec 2021
    1:30pm

    Hello! This was such an interesting study and presentation, and I loved the concept! I found it surprising that your hypothesis actually was actually incorrect, as I would’ve thought the same. The conclusion was surprising, but I could also see how it could turn out that way as students with that personality may actually be so driven to succeed and perfect things that their assignments/tests/work/etc turns out that way. Either way, it was super interesting!

    Reply
    Amy Rouse
    7 Dec 2021
    5:38pm

    This is very interesting as I have not thought of the connection between certain personality traits over others leading to more or less anxiety. The self-reflective bias is very valid when it comes to these sorts of surveys but the findings are still very interesting and can be used to understand how our students work and think.

    Reply
    Helena Nichols
    8 Dec 2021
    12:01pm

    I found this study to be very interesting that you looked at multiple personality traits! I also think it’s surprising there were not significant results for participants’ personality traits leading to anxiety. I think a larger sample size would really benefit future studies and I think it is definitely worth looking into in the future because it’s an important and relevant topic today especially for college students!

    Reply
    Emily Greer
    9 Dec 2021
    9:31am

    Wow! I enjoyed reading and listening to this study. I find it odd that the results did not go with your results. I wonder about future research to do this study on different ages. Also, I wonder if people with neuroticism traits are just used to the amount of anxiety they have. I am not sure this is interesting data. Especially since in some of the classes here at school, I have learned that high anxiety means neuroticism. This study makes us wonder about the file drawer cabinet as well. How many studies similar to this have happened and just never been reported. Finally I think this also sheds some light on how psychology of personality is a lot more complicated than we think. Awesome work!

    Reply
    Sydney German
    9 Dec 2021
    3:29pm

    Hi! I found this study incredibly informative and appreciated how the information was laid out in the presentation. In the discussion section, It was mentioned that outdated language could have changed the results of the study. Do you think more modern/updated language could have positively impacted the data, or is it more of a critique if this hypothesis were to be tested again?

    Reply
    Ann M Camp
    10 Dec 2021
    5:28pm

    I found your project very interesting and enjoyed the thought behind your original hypotheses. I liked how you displayed information in a flowing way but also backed it up with videos. Your project does make me wonder how the results would differ if a broader range of psych students were used.

    Reply

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